Conventionally, endoscopes are widely used, for example, to observe an organ in a body cavity by inserting an elongated insertion portion into the body cavity, or to perform various curative treatments using a treatment instrument which is inserted into a treatment instrument insertion channel if necessary.
Generally, such conventional endoscopes are provided with a bending portion which can be bent in vertical and horizontal directions at a distal end side of an insertion portion. A bending wire extending from an operation portion side is connected to a predetermined potion of the bending portion. The bending portion can be bent in a desired direction when a pulling operation or a loosening operation of the bending wire is performed using an operation member of an operation portion side.
Generally, in the operation of the bending wire in the conventional endoscope, the operation member which is provided in the operation portion is manually operated to mechanically operate the bending wire. However, in recent years, various electric bending endoscope devices have been proposed in which the pulling operation of the bending wire is performed using electric bending drive means such as an electric motor.
In an endoscope in such an electric bending endoscope device, the electric bending drive means such as an electric motor is disposed in the operation portion or the like. Accordingly, the operation portion tends to be largely increased in size and also increased in weight. Then, when users perform the bending operation using the operation member provided to the operation portion while supporting the operation portion with one hand, the users are tend to be burdened. This causes difficulties in performing the operation.
Accordingly, in view of the above, in the electric bending endoscope device, endoscope supporting devices for supporting an operation portion of an endoscope system in use have been proposed to reduce the burdens to the users when using the device, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 63-122416.
The endoscope supporting device disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 63-122416 includes a supporting portion which supports an operation portion of an endoscope or the periphery of the operation portion and a displacement mechanism which is formed by a flexible polyarticular arm to enable the operation portion to rotate and displace or to enable translational displacement of the operation portion.
However, the endoscope supporting device disclosed in the above Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 63-122416 is configured to support the endoscope being used at a predetermined position during the use of the endoscope. Thus, the endoscope supporting device is not appropriate for the use of, for example, housing the endoscope in the supported state or supporting the endoscope in a state just before the start of the use, that is, a so-called usage standby state.
For example, after an endoscopy is finished, the endoscope has to be detached from the supporting device to be washed. In the method disclosed in the above publication, the work of detaching the endoscope is troublesome. Further, before an endoscopy is performed, the washed endoscope has to be attached to the supporting device, and this operation is also troublesome.
Moreover, if the endoscope is electrically operated, the endoscope tends to be larger and heavier. Then, burdens in attaching the endoscope to the supporting device before the endoscopy and in detaching the endoscope after the endoscopy are further increased. In addition to the above, if a universal code extending from the endoscope is disposed along the arm of the supporting device, an attaching operation of the endoscope to the supporting device and a detaching operation of the endoscope to the supporting device have to be performed.
Meanwhile, conventionally, instruments such as a hanger used to store treatment instruments, not only the endoscope but also other instruments, or support the instruments in a standby state have been practically used. However, such conventional instruments like the hanger are not used when the endoscope or the treatment instruments are being used, but the instruments are configured to store the endoscope or the instruments or to be used in the standby state.
Further, when the instruments such as the hanger are used to store the endoscope, if the supporting device is used, during the use of the endoscope, it is necessary to provide a space to place the instruments such as the hanger which store the instruments.
The present invention has been made in view of the above, and an object of the invention is to provide an endoscope supporting device and an electric bending endoscope device which has the endoscope supporting device, the endoscope supporting device is provided with an electric bending unit and an insertion portion detachably configured in a state that an electric bending endoscope is always supported to increase an efficiency of an operation to be performed before an inspection and to reduce the work or burdens of the users, and in the state that the endoscope is being supported, the endoscope can be used, and similarly, the supporting device can be stored in the state that the endoscope is being supported.